Just Out of interest...

...I found this quote on the web while browsing random blogs, it concerns the deployment and effectiveness of the Royal Horse Artillery Rocket Troop present at the Battle of Waterloo. I think that it illustrated nicely that Black Powder rules have it about right for the effectiveness, or otherwise, of Rocket fire in the period. Apologies to those readers for whom this is old hat!

During the retreat from Quatre Bras, Captain Mercer described their performance thus: "The order to fire [rockets] was given - port/fire applied - the fidgety missile begins to sputter out sparks and wiggle its tail for a second and then darts forth straight up the road. A gun stands right in its way, between the wheels of which the shell in the head of the rocket bursts, the (French) gunners fall right and left, and, those of the other guns taking to their heels ... our rocketeers kept shooting off rockets, none of which ever followed the course of the first: most of them, on arriving about the middle of the ascent, took a vertical direction, whilst some actually turned back upon ourselves - and one of these, following me like a squib until its shells exploded putting me in more danger than all the fire of the enemy ..." 

I just enjoyed the humour of that first person recollection along with it evidencing that very British character trait, of finding humour even in the midst of carnage and death all around on the battlefield.

As I said, effectiveness or otherwise! From a Pendawar game last year in GHQ. Typoo Bhyka's Rocket Troop suffers an explosion on launch and we're destroyed!